Woman driver mows down five pedestrians in Rome

Rome, May 30 (IANS/AKI) Police in Rome on Tuesday arrested a woman motorist who knocked down five pedestrians including a mother and son, seriously injuring two of them,. All five victims were hospitalised.

One of the pedestrians, a 30-year-old man, is intensive care at Rome’s San Camillo Hospital after he was dragged under the car’s wheels for several metres, while a young woman suffered a spinal cord injury, local daily Il Messaggero reported.

Passers-by had to lift the Smart car off the 30-year-old man who was trapped underneath it after the accident, the paper said.

Police ruled out an act of terrorism after the 43-year-old woman tested positive for drugs and who was found in possession of 6 grammes of cocaine.

The woman allegedly felt unwell at the wheel and lost control of her Smart, which jumped a red light in the via dei Colli Portuensi in west Rome on Monday evening as people were crossing the road, police said.

The woman, referred to as M.L.A., had lost her driving-licence in February 2016, according to police. She had allegedly knocked pedestrians before, Il Messaggero said, without citing its sources.